Water-heater.



PATENTED AUG. ll, 1908.

T. W. PITCHER. WATER HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.11, 1903.

[NI/VIENTOI?. M54@ Cif ` UNITED sfrafrns P Aannr envien.

y THOMAS WALTER PITCHER, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO RENTA WATER HEATER CO., A CORPORATION OF MAIN-E.

WATER-HEATER.

Application led September 11, 1903. Serial No. 172,719.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known `that I, PITCHER, a sub'ect ofthe King of Great Brit- .'ain, and a resi ent of Bayonne, New Jersey, have. invented certain new andluseful Imrovements in Water-Heaters, of which the ollowing is al specification.

,- This invention relates to water heaters and more particularly to valve mechanism forautomatically controllin the fuel supply by the flow of.water throug the heater.

object of the invention is to provide r mechanism by' whiehthe fuel valve may be automatically controlled, and Ireliably so, by

the pressure of the water supplied to the' .1heater, and more particularly to provide a mechanism which, though simple and compact, will operate reliably under alight water pressure.v

It is also an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which is simple and cheap to construct and not apt to get out oforder. These and other objects of the invention will morel fully appear from the following descri tion. f Te invention consistsin the novel parts, improvements, and' combinations herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, which are referred'to herein and `term a art hereof, illustrate'one embodiment -of t e invention and yserve in' connection with the description fandfoutlet passa es; a fuel herein tjo' explain the principles thereof. r Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical cen- `tral section of a valve mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a' transverse section of the same taken on .the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. 'Alrval've mechanism constructed in accordanc'ewith my invention comprises a fuel controlling valve; a casing havinmwa'ter inlet valve operating Amember arrange to establish communicatiem between tie inlet and outlet passages, when in one position, and to interrupt said communication, when in another position; a fuel valve closing ymember subjected to water ressure on one side only and `having an effectivey area as large as that of the valve opening member, said members being in axial aline- 4ment with eachother; connections between said members and the fuel valve, said con- Specification o! Letters Patent. l

- in their adjustab e positions. As shown, the

Patented Aug. 11, 190e.v

valve.

Inaccordance with best embodiment -of ythe invention, the fuel valve operating members are in the form of pistons-,operatively connected to each other as well as to 'the fuel valve. r

yIn' accordance with the bodirnent of the invention ilustated,.-the casing of the device ismade at -twofmain l. memberfor a' given movement of the fuel'l THOMAS -WALTER- articular g emparts 1 and 2, the parel bein providedfwiwg I a bore to receive the fuel .va vefopening pis-f5.'

ton 3, and the part 2 having a bore .adapted to receive the -fuel valveclosin piston and also a chamber ih located.

which the l valve isk The members 1 and 2 ofthe casin ahead-v'y justably secured together in axial a meinen-t` ,l j

as by means of a threaded section shownx'a' lock nut 'being rovided to secure 'the parts art .l ofthe casing is provided witha vlateral oss 7, forming a water inlet passage, and with an extension or nipple 8, forming a water outlet passage. The piston 3, which is preferably of inverted cup shape, is provided with one or more lateral openin s 9 through which communication is established between the inlet and outlet passages, when the piston is moved a predetermined distance upwardly in the bore of the art 1Q A iston rod 10 1s adjustably secure to the head) of the piston 3 by any suitable means, as by the clamp nuts l l of suitable packing material, as leather, which is clamped between a shoulder on a valve rod 12 and a nut 13 threaded on said rod.

The piston 4 preferably has an effective area which is at least equal to that of the piston 3, and suitable connections are rovided As shown, the piston consistsof a disk between the pistons by means of w lich any movement imparted to t e piston 3 by the water will be greater than the movement imparted to the piston 4. As shown, the connections consist of aplurality of levers 14 pivotally fulcrumed in the upper end of the'- i 14 lare .pivotally connected at 'intermediate' upon the pistons. The levers l in opposite directions.

points Ito links 15, which are pivotally connected-at their lower ends to the upper end of thel valve rod 12. By reason of this construction a reduction in pressure on the upper surface of the piston will cause an up- Ward movement of both pistons notwithstanding that they are subject on their adj acent faces to the saine waterpressure acting The valve rod 12 passes through a perforation in a diaphragm separating the chamber of the piston 4 from the chamber of the Valve 5, a packing 16 being provided to prevent leakage of gas out of or water into the valve chamber. As shown, this packing consists el' a conical ring of suitable packing material which fitted to a correspondingly shaped recess in the dia-E phragm and is constantly forced upwardly into said recess in such manner as to keep the packing closely confined between the walls of the recess and the rod -12 by means of a washer 17 between which and the valve 5 a compression spring 18 is located. The diaphragm is preferably provided around the perforation for the rod 12 with an upwardly projecting lip 19, and the clianibei' of the piston 4 is preferably provided with a drain passage 20 which opens into said chamber at a Y point below the u per edge of said lip, therey preventing suc i admission of water to the gas valve chamber as might be carried there by the reciprocating motion of the valve rod notwithstanding a sufficiently tight joint formed by th'e`packing` 16 to prevent the escape of gas. The seat for the gas valve 5 is preferably formed by the sharpened upper edge of the ni ple 21, which is adjiistably threaded into t ie lower end ofthe member 2 of the casing, the outletpassage for the gas being formed by a boss- 22.

` The operation of the device is as follows: The inlet passage of the valve being connected to the water main and the outlet passage to a water heater and the latter being filled with water, the pressure of the water acting upon the piston 4 will draw the piston 3 downwardly, the pressure on oppi site sides of the pist-on 3 b eing balanced by means of a suitable restricted' passage coinniunicating with'thc s ace at the opposite sides of said pistons. his passage may be forinedby a small perforation 23 in the upper part ol' the member 1 ofthe easing or by providing a sufficiently loose lit between the piston 3 and the chamber in which it is located. The

lower surface of the piston 4 being in com` munication with the atmos here through the drainpassage 20, is urge downwardly by the iul force of the water acting on its upper pressure, to reliably close the gas controlling t valve. G5..

Whenever any water is drawn'froin the heater, however, the pressure on the up per surface of the piston 3 will be reduced, and by reason of the character of -the connections between the piston 3 and the piston 4 said ist-ons will be moved upwardly by the unba aneed pressure of the water on piston 3, and thus open the fuel valve, the degree of the opening of the fuel valve being dependent upon the relative location of the opening 9 in the piston Sand the top of the inenlber 1 of the casing. This position may be varied by adjusting the piston 3 on the piston rod 10. The fuel valve will beheld o pen aslong as l[he flow of water througlrthe heater isc greater than can be supplied by the restricted passage 23 or its equivalent under a difference of pressure at its opposite ends su'llicient vto move the piston 3 in opposition to the force exerted by the piston 4. lt will be seen that the compression*spring 1S will serve to close the fuel valve, Ishould'the water pressure for any reason entirely fail, and thus prevent injury to the heater by overheating.

It will be seen that the device is simple and compact, the controlling force being obtained by pistons of small diameter as compared with the pistons heretofore used in similar devices. The parts being arranged in axial alinement, may be readily constructed of simple castings and when assembled will operate freely and are not apt to get out of adjustment.

My invention in its broader aspects is not tion without departing from the main prinei -ples of the invention and without sacriiicing its vchief advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patn I ent is: v

In an automatic valve mechanism, the combination with a fuel controlling valve, of a easing having water inlet and outlet passages aiid a piston chamber ,2 a pair of pistons arranged in substantially axial aliiieiiieiit in said chambers, one piston being located between the inlet and outlet passages; connections between said pistons and the fuel valve, said connections including a plurality of levers symmetri ially arranged with relation to the alined axes of the pistons g' a rod connecting one piston directly with the fuel valve; a diaphragm between the pistoni chamber and the valve chamber; a packing in said diaphragm; and a spring coni )ress'ed between the packing and the fuel valve.

1n testimony whereof, I have signed my naine to this specification, iii the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS WAljFElt Pl'lCl'llC t. Witnesses:

(hiAiiLns GOLD, J. H. FREEMAN. 

